Baalke on Aldon Smith: You don’t just open a door and toss people out of it

Posted by Josh Alper on April 25, 2014, 3:13 PM EST

AP

Last week, we reported that the 49ers were not going to release linebacker Aldon Smith as a result of his latest brush with the law and that the team had not decided whether or not to pick up the option on his contract for the 2015 season.

On Friday, General Manager Trent Baalke said pretty much the same thing. Baalke said that the organization is disappointed in Smith, but that disappointment isn’t going to lead the team to part ways with him.

“We’re a family. You don’t just open a door and toss people out of it,” Baalke said, via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

Baalke also said that the team has yet to make a decision about whether or not they will be exercising the fifth-year option that is attached to Smith’s rookie contract, but said that he wants to have Smith on the roster in 2015 and beyond. Exercising the option would give Smith a salary of $9.754 million for the 2015 season, although it is guaranteed for injury only and doing so wouldn’t close the door on signing Smith to a long-term deal instead.

Realistically, he’s to good a player with to much potential to just throw away. In no way am I endorsing his behavior, but the NFL ultimately values skill over morality, and that is one thing Aldon has plenty of.

If this dude wast a football player he’d be charged with a felony and getting a big heapin of water boarding….. Love the compassion for those who can help you get what you want …if he was some homeless dude you beg for him to be in prison…..freakin hypocrites

The guy has 42 sacks starting next to Justin Smith, the best defensive holder in the NFL, and zero when Smith doesn’t start. I’d say he’ll be there until Smith is gone, and then they’ll throw him out the door.

This is not a 49er trait; it’s an NFL norm, or even a Professional sports norm. No team in this league will dump a player of this magnitude unless they have a great option behind him or he goes to prison. It’s funny to see fans of other teams and Media contradict themselves dumping on the Niners when every team in this league acts the exact same way.

Yes this is not the first you’ll hear about stars getting preferred treatment – nor will it be the last; as is the case in the rest of society, companies and schools across the world.

At the end of the day, people are people – and more often than not; its the poeople who put celebs on pedistals as role models for their children who will be let down when their unrealistic expectations aren’t met.

I understand the posts here, and as a niner fan i want this guy on the team, productive and ready to play. in a perfect world, it would be wonderful if he was a great humanitarian, spreading peace and joy across the globe.

But in the real world, all i care about is how he performs on the field. He’s an outstanding OLB on my favorite team; he’s not my financial advisor, he’s not my preacher or president or CEO. I don’t care what he does; and if he was on one of your teams, i think from a football perspective, you’d feel the same way. Let’s not lose sight of what this is all about: Winning Football games. Whoever can make the team better, come aboard. And if you care about winning, i think you’d agree. Again, perspective here – he’s a football player. Not the Pope.

If Culliver is still on the 49ers roster there’s no way Aldon Smith won’t be. Smith is probably going to be suspended for a while. Hopefully, he’s gone for at least half the season but I think he deserves a year long ban.

Harbaugh has always been a clown, so his “above reproach” comments backfiring on him doesn’t make him look that much worse than he always looks anyways.

“We’re a family. You don’t just open a door and toss people out of it,” says Baalke. You don’t say? Actually, that’s precisely what happens in the NFL all the time. Once a player loses a step or gets on the wrong side of 30 or has a contract that’s a little too expensive, it’s amazing how quickly the family can decide to open that door and toss one of its members out of it. It happens on regular basis. The only reason the Niners are even considering keeping Aldon Smith is because he’s freakishly talented. If Smith were a marginal player, he’d have already been kicked out of the family without a second thought. All this talk about being a “family” is good PR, maybe, but it doesn’t mean squat when it comes to making personnel decisions. It’s a cold blooded business, and “family” has nothing to do with it. Don’t be disingenuous.

To clarify what I said earlier, I don’t believe the niners will do anything on their own. Aldon went into rehab before the NFL enforced it last season.
To me that is enabling and is not the best solution for Aldon.
Again I don’t expect the niners will suspend him on their own. It will be him going to jail or the NFL stepping in and suspending him.
Great numbers, I don’t think he would have anywhere near those numbers without Justin Smith.

Why are people comparing Aldo smith incident to murder? Aaron Hernandez has been charged with murder……Rae Carruth charged with murder…….Aldon Smith…..charged with nothing new at the moment. So why all the new hate?

What I did in my early 20’s wasn’t necessarily a reflection of who I was or who I would become. Much of it was a reflection of me being still in many ways a kid. I can’t imagine how much millions of dollars would have complicated things. Professional athletes are no different.

The “hit and run” was a misdemeanor that was settled for 100 dollars. Basically the cost of the stitches because Marshawn was not even aware that he hit her.
The Gun charge was a misdemeanor settled for community service.
The DUI he was charged with a reckless driving and was settled for attending driving classes and probation.
Of those charges, he was a Buffalo Bill for the first part.

So a hardened criminal he is not.

Care to compare that with everything that Aldon Smith has done?

Aldon Smith will have his trial for the gun charges and DUIs next week on the 29th.

The organization that basically abused Brandon Jacobs is now saying they don’t treat people a certain way?

I see what’s up here. This is the one truly great pick of the Baalke era (Kaep was probably Harbaugh’s choice all the way). Remove Smith from the equation, and suddenly Baalke’s acumen as a GM comes into very serious question.

The good news is, he’s still a talented player. The bad news is, you still can’t fix stupid.

Niners fans conveniently neglect to mention Lynch’s weapons and hit and run charges happened while he was NOT a Seahawk. But should we really expect anything less from a fanbase that can’t stop bringing up ancient history ie: their 5 rings from 20+ years ago?!

Hernandez was only cut because he was arrested for MURDER. You are absolutely crazy to believe he would be cut under all of Aldon’s circumstances. Even by Bellichick. Not condoning Aldon’s behavior but you are comparing an apple to a watermelon…. And spare the “he coulda killed someone” speech becaue Aaron IS a serial killer.

Obviously Mr. Balke has never had a job in the real world. At the first infraction, my company will escort you from the property and then mail you any belongings that you may have left behind. And this is a major utility company. You break the law- society or company- you are gone. No second, third, sixth, eighth chance like all these immature, coddled goofball get!

If Aldon goes to trial his defense team will have fun with the County Sheriff having them explain the fun they had after inviting Aldon Smith to fire automatic weapons at the county gun range before giving him a ride in a Sheriff’s helicopter . . . all in the 15 month gap between the event and actual charges.

Id love to see an example from all you “appalled” fans of any team cutting an all pro on his prime because of off the field issues.

Lets face it no GM is getting rid of a young star in his prime unless he pulls an Arron Hernandez that’s just the way it is. The Niners org. Is no different than any of the others. Hate all you want he’s ours and your not getting him. I bet they pick up the 5th year option at the very last minute and hope no one notices 🙂

I think him garnering additional attention because his skill is so obvious it’s not worth mentioning. It’s a fact of life though, an unfair aspect of life.
If your good at what you do, you’ll be provided more opportunities, in all walks and avenues of life, period.

Gee this is a shocker to hear. Back in the day they cheated the cap space to pay players under the table to SBs and now they won’t release a player that gets away with a felony bomb threat at an airport??? Sounds fishy if you ask me!!!

Especially when they average a sack a game. Last years treatment episode was a joke. They knew they would have him back for the playoffs. And they got to look like they were being sensitive to the players needs as well.